He was born at Palermo into Spanish family; his father was Fabiano Ungo de Velasco.[1] At the age of 15, he changed his surname to that of the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez.
He studied painting initially under a former pupil of Sebastiano Conca, Gaetano Mercurio, who fared poorly as a painter. He moved to work under another local follower of Conca, Giuseppe Tresca, with whom he painted frescoes in a church in Castellamare. Returning to Palermo, he finally worked under the painter Gioacchino Martorana, who had trained in Rome under Marco Benefial.
Velazquez often collaborated in providing the decoration for the structures built by the architect Giuseppe Venanzio Marvuglia. He was patronized by the viceroy Caramanico, for whom he painted his portrait. In 1805 he became Director of the Accademia del Nudo in at the University of Palermo, supplanting the painter Mariano Rossi. Among his pupils were Francesco la Farina (1778 - 1837).[2] and Salvatore Lo Forte.
In 1869, the writer Carmelo Pardi compared the three prominent painters of Palermo of the early 19th century: Giuseppe Patania, Vincenzo Riolo, and Velasquez; Pardi noted that;[3][4]
in Velasquez, the perfection of design surpassed the color; in Riolo the conventionality of the form prevailed to the study of the true, and in the Patania the natural spontaneity took precedence to the knowledge of the principles that inform art.
Velazquez died at Palermo and was buried in the Chiesa dei Cappuccini of Palermo.[5]
Saints Benedict, Placido, and Mauro and Adoration by the Magi (canvases, 1808) for the church of San Salvatore di Noto.[7]
Granting keys to St Peter in the Mother church of Castelbuono.
Annunciation, Assumption, Coronation of the Virgin (1809),Martyrdom of St Andrea, Martyrdom of Saints Phillip and James, Holy Family, (canvases, 1812–1816) for the church of Santa Maria Assunta, Randazzo.
Portraits of Giuseppe Ventimiglia, Monsignor Ciafaglione, Ferdinand of Bourbon, Marabitti, and Marchese Airoldi.
^in Velasques la perfezione del disegno soprastava al colorito; nel Riolo la convenzionalità della forma prevaleva allo studio del vero, e nel Patania la spontaneità naturale la vinceva sulla conoscenza de’ principii informatori dell’arte. (page 7)
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